Photographer Kaare Iverson

answers your questions

Earlier in August we asked you for your burning outdoor photography questions. We’ve selected a few of them, and as part of our ongoing photographer series, Kaare (sounds like Cory) Iverson shares his thoughts with us. How do you carry your gear on a long hike? How do you organize all of your filters, lenses and extras?Ah, this is ever the conundrum with shooting in these difficult to access locations. I’ve been through countless systems and bags to try to find a one-size-fits-all solution and finally given into the old adage of the professional photographer - “you will never own just one bag for your gear” - and for this I am endlessly grateful for my relationship with Osprey and the garage full of packs it affords me.
My approach to carrying in camera gear on a long hike now is to spend a lot of time in pre-production so that I can limit the amount of gear I carry to the bare essentials that I predict I’ll need on a particular job. I then break my kit down into a series of modular cases that I can distribute throughout my pack (which is also loaded with all the survival essentials I’ll need while out there). Once on location, I’ll set up a basecamp for equipment where I can lay out and organize gear. If I want to make sure I don’t miss opportunities to shoot during the hike in, I’ll opt to also carry a light weight mirrorless camera setup on my person for quick access. It’s also nice to have a packhorse.

you will never own just one bag for your gear...

I’m looking to buy an entry level DSLR camera with a budget of $300-400. What would you recommend? I’m a bit of a die hard Canon user - more out of laziness about learning a new camera system than major technological advantage so I’m going to have to point you there (but also look to Sony and Nikon for comparably great systems as well). In the introductory end of the DSLR lineup you’ll find a camera series called “Rebel”. It used to be that these cameras lagged far behind the flagships of the Canon lineup but as digital image technology has advanced they’ve stepped up to be very capable camera systems. Canon also has a refurbished department where you can buy camera and lens kits for a pretty deep discount and a solid guarantee on quality.

More and more women are being featured in outdoor images, but it seems like *most* of the images are still taken by men. Any thoughts on how aspiring female outdoor photographers can get their work better represented in the industry? Do you think there are strengths to being a female photographer that could be highlighted when attempting to get work published?I’m a little apprehensive to step up to questions like this as my perspective is inherently skewed by my gender but I do think that this inequality is quickly changing. Traditionally, photography as an art medium typically has very little celebrity attached to it (although nepotism is a different story) - if the work is good it’s going to sell. With the advent of services like Instagram though, photographer celebrity has quickly become an important part of the business; the story of who a photographer is and how they work has become a big part of how their work is received. I follow a number of female adventure photographers who leverage their stories as female artists and adventurers to great success. And as evidenced by the recent success of a film about the personal experience of female alpinists which I co-directed with Osprey (Equal Footing) I would say that stories of the female specific experience are in high demand. Leverage your market advantage!

For long days on the wall, should one forgo morning coffee rituals to avoid potential emergency, umm, evacuations? If so, what do you eat/drink to jump start your alpine mornings?

Oh I’m so happy that I get to answer this question. This is perhaps even more important pre-production planning than which lens to bring. I’ve actually thought a lot about this “issue” and I do indeed forgo the morning coffee on big wall days. In fact, I’ll typically spend the week leading up to a big adventure overcoming my otherwise junkie-like addiction to caffeine just so that I can skip it in the mornings. The emergency evacuation is one thing (which is also solved by bringing a Restop2 bag with you on route) but I also like to avoid the erratic spike and dip in energy that caffeine gives me. Creative energy is a finite resource for me and I spend a lot of time curating, feeding and staying in a space conducive to it. Coffee is for writing contracts and processing invoices...

What tips do you have for shooting night photography? Any tripods you love? Night photography is a tricky and technical specialty but generally the same principals that apply to good landscapes apply to good night photos. I think that the best night photos have some element of environmental light in them (like a lit tent, a campfire, headlamps, drone lights, etc...) to add story and depth to the scene. On the technical side, large sensor cameras are generally the most critical component as they allow for higher ISO without quality loss. Shooting in RAW and having a solid knowledge of your camera’s capabilities and limitations will allow you to eek the most out of your night time photography when you bring the files into post-production. Certainly a sturdy tripod is also pretty critical as you’ll be shooting with much longer shutter speeds and the camera cannot move at all during a shot. I really love Gitzo tripods, but Benro also makes a great (and much more affordable) knock-off of Gitzo technology.